Great Kidnapping Crisis
by RainbowAurora17
Summary: A great series of kidnappings is happening around town. Who is doing this and why? It's up to Charlie Chan and the Chan Clan to find out. For SailorWednesdayMercury.
1. Good Morning

**Chapter 1: Good Morning**

It was a brand new day in a nice quiet neighborhood. Within this neighborhood was the home of the world famous detective, Charlie Chan.

Also within this home lived his ten children known as the Chan Clan: Henry Chan, Stanley Chan, Suzie Chan, Alan Chan, Anne Chan, Tom Chan, Flip Chan, Nancy Chan, Mimi Chan, and Scooter Chan. Each child was beginning the day in his and her own way.

Youngest daughter and second youngest child, Mimi Chan, was out selling girl scout cookies around the neighborhood while her younger brother and youngest Chan child, Scooter Chan, was delivering newspapers around the block as part of his job as the paper boy. Unfortunately for Scooter, his older sister had a nasty habit of being incredibly bossy, particularly towards him.

"Scooter," Mimi called from across the street, "don't forget to look both ways before crossing the street and don't take too long. Suzie will have breakfast ready soon."

"Aw, you're always telling me what to do," Scooter pouted as he continued his paper route. He tossed a newspaper to his house and it was immediately caught by his second oldest brother and sibling, Stanley Chan.

"Alright!" Stanley quickly opened the newspaper. "It's Sunday and that means….Sunday comics!"

Inside the Chan household, the eldest daughter and third eldest Chan child, Suzie Chan, was preparing breakfast for her father and siblings. Although breakfast wasn't quite ready just yet, the ever-hungry eighth child, Nancy Chan, was already at the dining table waiting to be served. With her was the family pet dog, Chu-Chu, whom was already dining on a delicious ham bone in his dog bowl.

Outside, on the other side of the block, the eldest of the four youngest Chan children, Flip Chan, was returning from a video store after renting a new _Dick Tracy_ movie. Suddenly, his eldest brother and sibling, Henry Chan, passed him while out on a morning jog.

In the backyard of the Chan family's home, the fifth child and athletic tomboy, Anne Chan, was watering the vegetable garden the family was growing. Exhausted by the summer heat, she fanned herself with her cap.

"Whew!" Anne panted. "It's not even noon yet and it's already 100 degrees."

Surprisingly, the moment Anne placed her cap back on her head, the water from the hose immediately stopped running. "What the…?"

Unbeknown to Anne, her elder brother and fourth Chan child, the inventing genius, Alan Chan, had teasingly placed his foot on the other end of the hose. Anne continued to shake her end in confusion, then looked inside the hose. Just then Alan took his foot off the hose as Anne turned around in time to see her brother innocently walk away. Anne remained suspicious, but before she could think any further, a large amount of water sprayed all over her.

"Gee, Annie," Alan snickered, "Pop said to water the garden, not yourself."

"ALAN!" Anne quickly pursued after her brother, chasing him into the front yard. The two then accidentally collided into their younger brother and sixth Chan child, Tom Chan, the most intelligent of the Chan Clan.

"Sorry, Tom," said Alan.

"Yeah, sorry," said Anne.

"Quite alright," Tom responded as he picked up his magnifying glass and the family laptop. "I've just finished studying the Hymenoptera in their cone-shaped mound of debris within our premises."

"What?" Anne stared in confusion.

"He's finished watching ants in their anthill in front of our house," Alan translated.

"Oh," Anne retorted. "You really need to learn to speak English, genius."

Before their conversation could go any further, Suzie came outside. "Come in, everyone! Breakfast is ready!"

Anne, Alan, and Tom entered the house. "Better switch into dryer clothes," Anne thought to herself. She walked past Suzie heading upstairs. Suzie quickly noticed Anne's soggy clothes.

"Goodness, Anne, you're soaking wet!" the eldest daughter gasped. "You'd better switch into dryer clothes before you eat."

Anne stopped in frustration. "Why didn't I think of that?" Anne growled in sarcasm. She then continued upstairs, while Alan snickered his way into the kitchen with Tom.

Stanley soon entered, still reading the comic section of the newspaper. "Boy, that _Dennis the Menace_! He kills me!"

Soon after, Henry and Flip entered. Flip took his seat at the dining table next to Nancy. "Let me guess: You're the first one here?"

"Hey!" Nancy pouted. "Suzie's having strawberry pancakes today! No way I'd miss that!"

Scooter, after finishing his paper route, ran right in. "I'm here!"

"Scooter Chan!" Mimi entered afterwards. "How many times have I told you? Don't run in the house! You could hurt yourself."

"You better quit telling me what to do," demanded young Scooter.

"Knock it off, you two," Flip ordered his two youngest siblings. "It's too early for this. Let's just eat."

"You said it!" Nancy agreed.

Scooter and Mimi took a seat at the table the moment Suzie started serving pancakes with scrambled eggs on the side to everyone.

Anne eventually entered, now wearing dry clothes and took her place at the table. Last, but not least, their father entered the dining room.

"Good morning, children," Charlie Chan took his seat at the dining table.

The Chan Clan all greeted their father. "Morning, Pop!"

As everyone sat and ate, Charlie had a pleasant reminder for his kids. "Don't forget, children. Today we go downtown to the mall to get new clothes, so within a few days we'll be ready to take a new family photo."

"Yes, Pop!" the Chan Clan replied.

"Oh, gee, Pop, I don't know," Anne stuttered. "I really don't know if I can take a picture with the family. I…uh…uh…I promised a friend I'd…uh…help her…uh…with her packing. Yeah, that's it! She just moved in the neighborhood and I'd promised I'd help her unpack. That'll probably take all week."

Alas, Mr. Chan could easily see through his young tomboy's fibs. "Sorry, Anne, but I'm afraid you're coming with us today and like it or not, you're still wearing a dress for the photo."

Anne groaned in frustration and hammered her head on the table.

"Oh, come on, Anne," Suzie said as she started taking her finished plate to the kitchen sink. "You need to get in touch with your feminine side every now and then anyway. Besides, I'll be there to help you find a good dress."

Anne rolled her eyes, annoyed. "That's exactly what I'm afraid of."

Later after breakfast was finished, the Chan family all headed to the Chan Van to go to the mall. Stanley was still carrying and reading the Sunday comics. "Boy, I love that _Peanut_ gang! That Charlie Brown and his 'Good Grief.'! "

"Sheesh!" Henry rolled his eyes as his brother laughed at the comics.

"Mr. Chan!" a voice shouted from next door. It was the Chans' grumpy old neighbor, Mrs. Cantanker. "I was out getting my morning paper and I almost tripped over this baseball! I know this belongs to one of your children!" The cranky old bitty held out a baseball.

Sadly, she was right. It belonged to young Scooter. "Oh, sorry, Pop," Scooter apologized as he took his ball back. "Flip and I were playing baseball yesterday and I guess I forgot to get it."

"Yeah," Flip sighed, "I'm sorry, too, Pop."

"It's alright, children." Charlie easily forgave his children, but Mrs. Cantanker wasn't so forgiving.

"It's not alright!" the old woman complained, waving her brown and white-tipped cane in the air. "I could've fallen and broken my neck! And another thing, stop putting my paper so far from my door! I'm an old woman, for crying out loud!"

"Sorry, Mrs. Cantanker," Scooter groaned. "I'll try."

"Well, see that you do!" Mrs. Cantanker walked back inside her house and slammed her door.

"Boy, what a grouchy old bat," said Stanley.

"You said it," Henry agreed. "All she does is complain."

"Now, now, children," said Charlie. "Let's not let Mrs. Cantanker upset our day. Let's just go to the mall."

Charlie got inside the Chan Van and the family drove off.


	2. Shopping Trip

**Chapter 2: Shopping Trip**

Moments later, the Chan family entered the Roseberry Mall located downtown from their house. Within a store, Stanley grabbed a purple suit with a green vest.

"Hey, Henry," Stanley asked, "what do you think?"

"Great," Henry sarcastically approved. "Now you just buy a green wig, paint your face white, paint your lips red, and I'll buy a bat suit."

"Great idea!" Stanley cheered, failing to recognize his brother's sarcasm.

"Give me that!" Henry snatched away the purple suit. "Now go find a real suit!"

"Boy," Stanley said as he crossed his arms, "what a grouch."

In another store within the mall, the four middle children were looking at dresses and suits their size.

"Hey, this blue glittering maxi dress is so me!" Suzie held up the beautiful dress to her chest and giggled. "I love it!"

Suzie then grabbed a smaller black lace dress. "Here, Anne. Try this on. I think it'll look nice on…" Suzie looked around and noticed her sister gone. "…you."

Suzie searched the store and failed to find her. She approached Alan and Tom, whom were looking at interesting suits on the boys' side of the store. "Alan, Tom, do you know what happened to Anne?"

Carrying a red suit he planned to purchase, Alan answered, "Same thing that always happens when you start talking girl talk…she took off."

Suzie face palmed and groaned, "That girl! Why must she be such a tomboy? Where could she have gone?"

Alan didn't have a hard time figuring this out. "Well, if I had to guess, I'd say she would be at…"

"The Sporting Goods store!" Anne yelled in excitement as she entered a sports store on the other side of the mall. The young tomboy was fascinated by all the sport equipment from within. "Cool! Look at that baseball bat! What a great baseball cap!" Anne, feeling greatly thrilled, then gasped as she approached a basketball in a glassed display case. "No way! A Julius Randle autographed basketball!"

Anne quickly turned her attention towards a 15-foot trampoline. "Neato!" Immediately, she got on and started jumping. All was fine until she heard a familiar voice.

"Anne!" It was the strict voice of her older sister, Suzie.

Startled while jumping, Anne missed the trampoline and landed on Alan, who accompanied Suzie, instead. "Oh. Heh-heh. My bad."

"Seriously, Anne," Alan remarked, "why can't you knit and play with dolls like other girls?"

Anne leaped off her brother and helped him up. "Yeesh. Lighten up, will ya, Alan?" Anne looked around and noticed a sibling missing. "Hey, where's Tom?"

Suzie looked to her left and right. "That's weird. I was sure he came with us."

Alan quickly put two and two together. "Oh, no! The High-Tech Shop!"

Four stores away from the sports store, Tom, after purchasing a new brown suit, was exploring a technology store known as the High-Tech Shop.

"This is fascinating!" gasped the brainy child. "A Microsoft Pro tablet with 64 gigabytes. Amazing, simply amazing!"

Tom got ready to leave until he spotted an incredibly rare item. "I don't believe it! A 48 volt Lithium Powercell battery worth over 20 grand. Imagine what machinery you could power with this!"

"Hey, genius!" Tom heard his sister Anne calling. He looked over and found her, Alan, and Suzie waiting for him at the entrance of the High-Tech Shop. "Hate to interrupt," Anne continued, "but we gotta get going." The four middle children resumed their shopping.

On yet another side of the mall, the four youngest were searching for small dresses and suits to fit them.

Nancy pulled out a purple dress and showed Mimi. "What do you think?" she asked.

"It's great," Mimi replied. "What do you think of this one, Nancy?" Mimi pulled out a small yellow dress.

"It's cute," Nancy replied back. "It's you." The two girls giggled in delight.

On the boys' side of the store, Flip and Scooter were picking out new suits to wear. Flip pulled out a slim, light green suit while Scooter pulled out a small white one. Both gave their suits a thumbs up.

Inside a backpack Mimi was carrying with her, their dog, Chu-Chu emerged. He let out a friendly bark as a reminder to his owners.

"Oh, that's right," Mimi just remembered. "We've got to find Chu-Chu a nice bow tie to wear for the family picture."

"Oh, right," Nancy nodded. "Let's pay for our dresses and get going."

Back with Henry and Stanley, the two brothers had just finished buying their new suits, an orange one for Henry and a dark green one for Stanley. They decided to wait by the mall fountain for the rest of their siblings to arrive.

"The others should be back soon," said Henry.

Stanley chuckled, "Yeah. Unless Suzie spots that hair salon and decides to get a new 'do. Or worse: Nancy might spot the food court. Heh-heh-heh!"

Ignoring Stanley's corny joke, Henry began to wonder something. "Hey, where's Pop?"

"Ah, probably still searching for his…" Stanley suddenly spotted his father several feet away. "Hey, Henry, look. Behind ya."

Henry turned around and saw Charlie Chan talking to a police officer and a weeping mother.

Curious, Henry and Stanley silently crept in closer to the conversation.

"I don't understand how it could've happened!" the mother cried. "I just turned my head for a minute and she was gone! My baby girl was gone!"

"Did you hear that?" Henry whispered. "Sounds like a kidnapping."

"Henry! Stanley!" called the familiar voice of their younger sister Suzie.

The boys turned around and found Suzie and their other siblings, along with Chu-Chu in Mimi's bag, standing behind them with their shopping bags.

"Are you two eavesdropping again?" Suzie scolded.

"Sshhh!" Henry hushed his sister. The ten children, all unnoticed, listened in on the conversation.

"That's the tenth child that has gone missing this month, Mr. Chan," the police officer explained to Charlie. "We'd appreciate it if you could give us a hand on this one."

"I'll help any way I can, Lieutenant. Come over to my home later to deliver more details on the matter." Charlie grabbed his shopping bag, then turned to leave.

Seeing their father coming, the Chan children rushed towards the mall benches and pretended to innocently mind their own business. Not surprisingly, Charlie didn't buy the deception.

"I'm not certain how much of our conversation you may have heard, but putting on an angelic pose only gives away your spying."

The children watched as the wise father continued to walk on. "Boy," Nancy sighed, "you really can't hide anything when your father's a detective."


	3. Kidnapping Case

**Chapter 3: Kidnapping Case**

Hours later, the Chan family returned home. To pass the time, five of the Chan children decided to form their band, the Chan Clan Band. With Henry on the drums, Stanley playing the guitar, Suzie playing two tambourines, Alan playing the oboe, and Tom playing the trombone, they performed their song " _Number One Son_ ," while their father, Anne, the four youngest, and Chu-Chu listened with great enjoyment.

Their performance was eventually interrupted by a knock on the door. Charlie got up from his seat to answer it and found the policeman from the mall awaiting him. To give their father some space, the ten children went upstairs, followed by their energetic pooch.

Charlie wasn't completely convinced that his children weren't going to eavesdrop again. "I haven't heard any doors closing, children!" The Chan kids immediately shut their doors. Feeling it was safe to resume his discussion with the police lieutenant, Charlie sat down on the sofa.

"The girl who disappeared at the mall is known as Susie Tempton," the lieutenant explained. "As said, she's just one of the ten children who has disappeared this month. However, these ten are not the only missing children. Five other states are also missing kids. Together in total, at least 55 children have disappeared. Being that the kidnappings around here have just started recently, we believe the kidnappers are now located somewhere in town."

As this conversation was going on, the curious Chan Clan all upstairs, the six boys and Chu-Chu in one room and the four girls in another, listened in. It so happens that a Chan-Com, a special communicator created by Alan, was left under the sofa and the ten children were all listening to every word of this mystery using the Chan-Coms each had on their wrist. Though Henry had to listen in on Stanley's because it was his Chan-Com that was left under the sofa.

"Great idea leaving a Chan-Com downstairs, Tom," Henry said to his keen brother.

"Your gratitude is greatly appreciated," Tom replied.

"Shh," Flip whispered. "I think there's more."

Downstairs, the lieutenant continued informing Mr. Chan what he's learned. "So far, the only clue we have is that one of the criminals is left-handed."

"Left-handed?" asked Charlie. "And _one_ of the criminals?"

"Yes," the police lieutenant added. "Naturally, we've managed to learn more than one criminal is responsible. Majority of them, though, are henchmen, all of whom wear black-hooded masks. One child, a young boy, was abducted last week while returning home from the supermarket late in the evening. His father tried to save him, but was knocked unconscious by another henchman. Before he passed out, he saw the leader of the henchmen, whom was wearing a black-hooded mask with stripes, call his superior on a cell phone using his left hand."

The discussion between the two gentlemen was interrupted by a loud banging on the front door. Charlie got up to answer and found another distressed woman. "You're Mr. Charlie Chan? The famous detective? You must help me!" the poor woman wept. "It's my two twin sons. We were in the park when I stepped away to get ice cream. When I returned, two hooded hoodlums grabbed my babies and took them away!" The woman fell to her knees in tears. "You must help me, please!"

"Please, miss," Charlie put his hand on the woman's shoulder to relax her, "I will help any way I can, but I need you to calm down first."

The worried mother desperately tried to pull herself together as she stood up and faced Mr. Chan.

"Now," Charlie continued, "can you take me to the park where your sons were abducted?" The weeping mother nodded and, along with Charlie Chan and the police lieutenant, headed towards the crime scene.

Back upstairs within the girls' room, Mimi and Nancy, while being comforted by Suzie, were devastated by the tragic story.

"That's so sad!" Mimi wiped the tears from her eyes.

"Who could do something so mean?" Nancy sobbed.

"I don't know," Anne stood up from the floor where the girls were sitting, "but he's not getting away with it, that's for sure!"

Inside the boys' room, the Chan brothers, too, were ticked off about the situation.

"Wham bam, kids everywhere are in a jam!" said Stanley.

"What are we waiting for?" Flip pounded his fist in his hand. "There's a kidnapper out there that needs arresting!"

"Yeah, arresting!" Scooter agreed.

"Hold it," Henry calmed his little brothers. "We can't afford to rush into things. Too much is at stake for any foul-ups. We'll all check out different parts of the town, but let's make sure to make it back home before dark so Pop doesn't notice and get worried."

The boys all nodded their heads in agreement. "Right!"

Chu-Chu barked as his way of agreeing with the Chan Clan leader.


	4. Splitting Up

**Chapter 4: Splitting Up**

Henry and Stanley got into the Chan Van and, with Henry driving, headed down the road on their way back to the mall.

"Why are we going back to the mall?" Stanley asked. "What clues to the mall kidnapping could we find that the police didn't?"

"Ya never would know, Stanley," Henry clarified. "Besides, the mall is the perfect place to pick off a child being that many of them get separated from their parents there. There's a good chance the crooks may still be around to do more kidnapping."

"But it's Sunday," Stanley reminded. "The mall closes early on Sundays, and judging by what time it is, it'll be closed by the time we get there."

"That's true," Henry explained further, "but, like I said, another kidnapping could've happened while we were gone. So, we can probably check out any clues to that. And even if there isn't another kidnapping, we can still check out around the mall to find any clues to the getaway vehicle the crooks may have used for the earlier one."

"Ohhh," Stanley sighed, relieved to have finally understood his brother's plan.

No more than three miles away from the Chan family's home, Charlie Chan and the police lieutenant were at a public park searching for any clues to the missing children.

"My children were right over there near the swings when I left them for ice cream," the mother said to the two investigators.

Charlie examined the area of the swings and noticed many footprints, big and small. However, one thing really caught his attention. There was a trail of small hole prints leading to and from the swings. "Hmm," the detective pondered, "this looks quite familiar."

Suddenly, a limo approached. Once parked, a security guard opened the back car door and out came the city's mayor.

"Ah, this is the crime scene, is it?" The mayor looked around the park and then quickly spotted Charlie. "Oh, you are Mr. Chan, the famous detective. I am Harvey M. Boxelder, the city's mayor. Pleased to meet you."

"I am pleased to meet you as well, Mr. Mayor." Charlie shook hands with Boxelder. "What brings you here, sir?"

"I was alerted about this recent kidnapping catastrophe and came to offer my sympathy to the grieving mother." Mayor Boxelder walked over to the mother of the missing children.

"Thank you, Mr. Mayor," the crying woman hugged the mayor.

"There, there, Miss," Boxelder comforted. "I promise you, we'll get to the bottom of this. You will help, will you not, Mr. Chan?"

"I will indeed, Mr. Mayor," Charlie answered, then he continued looking at the holes in the ground.

On a different block, the four middle Chan children were walking down the street. "So we're checking out the grocery stores?" Anne asked.

"That's what Henry suggested," Alan explained. "He said to check out areas where there are plenty of kids, and lots of parents take their kids to the grocery stores with them where they can easily wonder off."

"And as you know, separated offspring are the child-abducting villains' primary objective," Tom added.

"You know, I was just wondering," Anne curiously said, "do you think Mrs. Cantanker might be in on this?"

"Why would you ask that?" Suzie asked as the four children temporarily stopped walking.

"Well," Anne answered, "they said one of the crooks is left-handed and that old buzzard always walks with her cane using her left hand. I've also seen her sign for a few packages using her left hand."

"I'm certain that's merely a coincidence," Tom assured his sister.

Anne had more to add to her theory. "It's not just that. They said the kidnappings in town had just started recently this month and Mrs. Cantanker just moved next door to us not long after this month started. And let's not forget she isn't too crazy about kids, especially us."

"All that does make sense," Tom pondered, "but I'm still having a hard time believing she's guilty. After all, she is of the female gender and an elderly one at that."

This comment did not sit well with the feminist tomboy. "Are we starting that again?! You can't rule out a suspect just because she's a woman! They don't have women's prisons just for laughs, ya know!"

Suzie placed her hand on Anne's shoulder. "Calm down, Anne. I gotta admit, I agree. I mean, I know Mrs. Cantanker is no Mother Teresa, but I'm having a hard time believing an old lady could do something like this."

"An old person can be a crook, too. You do know that, don't you?" Anne responded.

"An old man, maybe, Annie, but an old _woman_? I doubt it," Alan teased. "Now let's go."

"Whatever," Anne walked on ahead, "and don't call me 'Annie'!" Tom, Suzie, and Alan followed their hot-tempered sister.

Meanwhile, the four youngest Chan children and their dog, Chu-Chu, were on their way to a children's park to do their own investigation. "So we're going to the park where the twin boys were kidnapped?" questioned Nancy.

"No," Flip corrected, "we're going to a different park. We gotta check out places that have plenty of kids hanging out, and lucky for us, there's more than one park in town."

"Boy," Scooter balled up his fist in anger, "if I ever get my hands on these creeps, I'll really let'em have it!"

"Scooter Chan," Mimi scolded, "you just behave yourself."

"You stop telling me what to do!" Scooter again demanded.

"Not now, you two," Nancy sighed out of annoyance.

"Yeah, knock it off," Flip ordered. "Pop and lots of kids out there are countin' on us."

As the four children and Chu-Chu kept walking, they approached a delivery truck with two men.

"You got the kid?" the lead delivery man asked. The other man answered, "Yeah, he's in. Safe and sound in the truck." "Good," said the lead delivery man, "let's get him to 666 Mapletown Street, pronto."

The four Chan kids and Chu-Chu quickly ducked behind a bush. "Did you hear that?" Flip whispered. "They got a kid in that truck!"

"They must be some of the kidnappers!" Nancy gasped.

"What do we do, Chief?" Scooter asked his elder brother.

"We head back home, grab our bikes, and tail them to Mapletown Street," Flip answered. "Let's go!"

The four kids headed back home.


	5. Revisiting the Mall

**Chapter 5: Revisiting the Mall**

Henry and Stanley had just returned to the Roseberry Mall. Sadly, as expected, it was closing and with no sign of any police cars, there clearly hadn't been any other kidnappings.

"Well," Henry sighed, "guess we'll just have to move on to searching around the outside of the mall."

"Wait," Stanley smiled, "I've got an idea." Stanley quickly disguised himself as a restaurant clerk.

"Stanley, what are you doing now?" an annoyed Henry asked.

"Don't you get it?" Stanley answered. "They'll think I'm one of the clerks at the food court and then they'll let me in the mall to keep looking around. Just watch."

Stanley walked over to a clerk from the clothes store they shopped from earlier while he was just exiting the mall.

"Hey, there, buddy," Stanley greeted the clerk with a disguised, deep voice.

"Oh, hi, Stanley," the clerk responded. "Did ya like the new suit you bought?"

Stanley instantly walked back to the Chan Van to meet Henry. "Heh-heh. Guess he's another one with sharp eyes, huh?"

"Come on, dum-dum!" Henry ordered.

Moments later, the boys parked the Chan Van and began looking around the mall. An hour went by and all they could find were skid tire tracks near the exit of the store where the little girl, Susie Tempton, was before she went missing. They couldn't see that as much of a clue since they were certain the police long spotted this.

The two boys then went to the back of the mall for one more search and found a small yellow delivery truck that wasn't present the first time they searched.

"Hey," Stanley pointed out, "I don't remember seeing that truck there before. Maybe we should check it out."

"Don't be ridiculous," Henry disagreed. "It's just an ordinary delivery truck with ordinary delivery men. There's nothing suspicious about that."

Stanley soon spotted three men coming out the mall's back door and was struck with fear. "Uh…I-Is there anything suspicious about delivery guys wearing black hoods?"

"What?!" Henry looked on and saw men in black hoods creeping out of the mall. One was carrying an expensive Powercell battery. The very same battery Tom was looking at earlier.

Unfortunately, it didn't take long for one of the exiting hoodlums to zero in on the two Chan boys. "Hey! Snooping kids!" one shouted. "Get them!" shouted another. Two of the men gave chase while the man carrying the stolen battery looked on.

Henry and Stanley immediately ran for their lives.

"We gotta hide somewhere!" Henry told his brother.

"Hide where?!" Stanley cried. "There's nothing to hide behind."

"No," Henry looked up, "but there's something we can hide on!"

The two fleeing boys ran to the other side of the mall and dashed around the corner. The two henchmen followed in hot pursuit, but when they turned the corner, Henry and Stanley had disappeared. The only thing that was in sight were two trash cans. The villains looked inside, but Henry and Stanley weren't in it. They headed back to their truck to meet their accomplice.

"You let them escape?!" the leader of the trio shouted.

"They just disappeared," one of the henchmen shrugged.

"Oh, never mind," the leader grumbled. "At least we got the battery. Let's not mention this to the boss or the ol' creep will have our hides."

The three men then removed a yellow sheet that was disguising their truck, revealing it to really be a plain brown truck. They then got inside their getaway vehicle and drove off.

On the roof of the mall, Henry and Stanley had watched the whole thing.

"Boy, that was a close one," Stanley panted.

"Yeah." Henry looked over to a flagpole near the front of the mall. "Lucky thing we were able to climb that pole to get to the roof. I don't know if we would've made it then."

"What do you think those goons wanted with that battery doohickey?" Stanley asked. "I thought they were just after kids."

"Don't know," Henry pondered. "It doesn't make sense, but I'm sure it's important. Let's get back home and tell Pop."

As soon as the boys made sure the crooks' vehicle was out of sight, they leapt onto the flagpole, slid down, ran to the Chan Van, and headed home.


	6. Unfriendly Kids

**Chapter 6: Unfriendly Kids**

On a different side of town, the four middle Chan children had just finished searching three grocery stores and found no kidnappings or kidnappers. They next decided to check out a small supermarket just two miles further from a recent store they just left.

"How much longer are we gonna search?" Suzie whined. "My feet hurt."

"This is the last store, Suzie. Then we head home," Anne told her sister.

The four kids did not feel too comfortable about the neighborhood they were walking into. Many strangers stared at them and many fenced dogs, whom were very large and vicious, barked ferociously, clearly wishing to attack them.

"This is indeed a very portentous environment we have infiltrated," Tom stated.

Suzie, in confusion, turned to Alan. "Huh?"

"We walked in a bad neighborhood," Alan translated.

The four children got ready to cross a street when suddenly they were approached by a gang of three teenaged boys in black leather.

"Hey," the lead boy approached Suzie, "where have you been all my life, gorgeous?"

"I don't know," Suzie backed away, "but I wish I was still there."

"Oooh, a spunky one," the ringleader said, clearly intrigued. "I'm gonna make you my girl."

"Back off, low-lives!" Anne snapped at the thugs.

"Why don't you mind your place, sister!" the ringleader's right hand boy said as he pushed Anne away.

"My place?!" Anne hissed. The tough tomboy approached the right hand and stomped hard on his foot, causing him to scream in pain.

"Well, well," the ringleader sneered. "It looks like these new kids need to be taught some manners. Get'em."

Knowing they were in trouble, the four middle children quickly ran off with the three bullies chasing after them.

Anne suddenly stopped. "Wait a minute. Why am _I_ running? I'm not afraid of these…" Before Anne could run back, Tom returned, grabbing her arm. "Hey! What are you doing?!"

Alan also returned and grabbed Anne's arm. "Pick a fight with someone your own size and gender, Annie, now move it!"

"Quit calling me 'Anni…' " Anne was pulled away before she could finish her sentence.

The four Chan kids dashed down the street and turned right down a corner. The three leathered boys quickly followed, but suddenly lost sign of the Chans. They walked a few feet further and approached an alley with two trash cans.

The ringleader was rather suspicious of the matter. "Hmm. Search those cans. They may be hiding in them."

The ringleader was half right. The four children were actually hiding _behind_ the trash cans. They held onto each other in fear as they could hear the approaching footsteps of the bullies, but soon a different sound was heard.

"Hey, let go!" cried one bully. "What's going on?! Let me go!" screamed another.

The Chan kids peeked around the trash cans and witnessed the three boys being apprehended… by three men in black hoods.

The three boys were immediately tied up and thrown in the back of a green box truck. Within the front seat of the truck, was a henchman wearing a black hood with white tiger stripes on it. He was finishing making contact with someone on a cell phone using his left hand, then hung up. When the three men entered the truck after locking up their prisoners, the striped henchman pulled up a white-tipped wooden stick that nearly fell out, and the men all hastily drove off with the kidnapped boys.

"Did you see that?" Alan gasped.

"Indubitably," Tom nervously replied.

"It was the kidnappers!" Suzie said in shock.

"No kidding!" Anne exclaimed. "Goons in black hoods? And the one with the striped mask was the ringleader! No doubt about it. Come on! Let's head back home and tell the other kids!"


	7. Mapletown Pursuit

**Chapter 7: Mapletown Pursuit**

Elsewhere, Flip and the rest of the youngest Chan children were riding bikes, with Chu-Chu riding in a basket with Mimi, tailing the delivery truck they spotted earlier.

"Keep it up," Flip encouraged his siblings, "Mapletown Street is just left of the next corner."

The truck turned the corner and the Chan children followed. They trailed the truck to a petting zoo across the street from a deep forest nearby and parked their bikes.

"Why would the kidnappers come here?" Nancy wondered.

"Probably looking for more kids to nab," Flip figured. "Come on. We don't wanna lose'em."

"Right!" Scooter attempted to follow Flip and Nancy to the zoo, but was stopped by Mimi.

"This is too dangerous," she said. "You just wait for your elders." Mimi followed her older siblings.

"If she thinks I'm gonna be left out of this, she's nuttier than I thought." Scooter immediately followed his brother and sisters. Chu-Chu barked excitedly and also followed. Once the whole group was inside the parking lot, they quickly hid behind a bush near the forest.

"When do we make a move, Chief?" Scooter asked his leader.

"We wait 'til they pull the kid out. Then we nail'em," Flip instructed his faithful right hand.

The kids watched as the delivery men opened the back of their truck. "Okay, kid. Let's go." The lead delivery man pulled on a rope and out came…a baby goat!

"A baby goat?!" a startled Flip couldn't believe it.

"Of course!" Mimi realized. "Tom once told me. A baby goat is called a kid."

Nancy awed the adorable baby goat while Flip face palmed. "Boy, what a waste of time!"

"Not really, Flip," Nancy tried to reassure her brother of the positive side of things. "We were supposed to search places that have lots of kids in it. Zoos have lots of kids and…" Nancy gasped, greatly thrilled as she looked next door to the zoo. "Hey, an ice cream shop! I'm sure plenty of kids would hang out there!"

"Come on, Nance!" Flip chastised. "This is no time to be thinking about your stomach. Besides, what are the odds we'll find any kidnapping crooks out here?"

While Flip was lecturing his food-loving sister, a couple of shadowy figures approached the four children from behind. Nancy noticed this, turned around, and trembled in fear.

"I'd say p-p-pretty good," Nancy stammered. "Look!" Flip, Mimi, Scooter, and Chu-Chu all turned around and found two black-hooded men standing right behind them!

"Scatter!" shouted Flip.

While Chu-Chu jumped inside of the bush, the four youngest children dashed off into the woods with the black-hooded men chasing after them. Afterwards, they scattered into two groups with Flip and Nancy going one way and Mimi and Scooter going another. The henchmen decided to split up as well. One went after Flip and Nancy, the other went after Scooter and Mimi.

Flip and Nancy attempted to climb a tree to escape their pursuer. Flip was able to climb to the top, but due to her slightly chubby figure, Nancy was only able to climb halfway up before falling back down.

"Nancy, quick!" Flip shouted down to his sister. "Run!"

Upon noticing her black-hooded chaser coming towards her, Nancy immediately got up and continued running.

Not too far away, the second henchman had already lost sight of Scooter and Mimi. He stopped near a tree with a large hole near the top, then continued his search. Unbeknown to the kidnapper, Mimi and Scooter were hiding inside the hole of the tree.

"I think we lost him," Mimi whispered as she carefully peeked out the hole. "Come on. Let's go."

Suddenly, a cry for help was heard. Mimi and Scooter looked on ahead and found Nancy in grave danger. She had made another attempt to climb the tree with Flip, but the henchman chasing her grabbed her leg before she could get too far. Flip struggled to help his sister by grabbing her hand and pulling her up, but was coming close to falling out the tree as the villain was clearly much stronger.

"We gotta help them!" Scooter tried to climb down the tree, but was grabbed by Mimi.

"Scooter, don't you dare!" she insisted. "It's too dangerous!"

Scooter pulled himself free from Mimi's grip, climbed down, and dashed off to help his siblings.

The very moment Scooter approached Flip and Nancy's attacker, he started pounding, rather in vain, on his leg. "Let her go! Let go of my sister right now!"

Out of the blue, the black-hooded henchman who was pursuing Scooter earlier appeared and apprehended him. The young Chan's struggle to get free were futile.

From another nearby bush, the children's dog, Chu-Chu was watching this whole situation. He was baffled as of what to do to help, then a light bulb went off in his head.

Due to his special talent of making all sorts of sound effects, Chu-Chu urgently imitated a police siren.

Under the belief the police were approaching, the two black-hooded men released Nancy and Scooter and made a hasty retreat.

Once the villains were long gone, Flip and Nancy climbed down their tree and Mimi met up with them and Scooter. Chu-Chu approached his owners barking happily. Knowing it was their loving dog who scared off the hoodlums, the kids cheered, "Yay, Chu-Chu!"


	8. Family Quarrel

**Chapter 8: Family Quarrel**

Later that night, all ten Chan children had made it back home long before their father arrived and informed each other about their encounters with the kidnapping henchmen. Thereafter, Charlie Chan entered the household and his children quickly told him about their adventurous day.

Although Charlie was initially upset with his children for endangering themselves, he felt more relieved they made it home safe and sound. He was also most fascinated by Henry and Stanley's story about the black-hooded men stealing the Powercell battery.

"What do you make of it, Pop?" asked Henry.

"Yeah," asked Stanley, "what could a bunch of kidnappers want with an expensive battery thingy?"

"Hmm," their father deduced. "It is possible that kidnapping's not the mastermind's only goal."

"Huh?" a puzzled Henry again asked. "What do you mean?"

"It's nothing to concern yourself with, Henry." Charlie placed his hand on his eldest child's shoulder. "You've all had enough excitement for one day. I suggest you all turn in."

The Chan Clan watched as their father left the living room and headed towards his bedroom.

Henry and Stanley decided to head upstairs to do some more thinking, while the four middle children headed to the kitchen to have their own discussion. Flip, wanting to be more prepared the next time they run into the kidnappers, decided to check the family's outdoor shed for a dragnet while Nancy, Mimi, Scooter, and Chu-Chu waited in the living room for his return.

Inside the kitchen, Suzie, Tom, and Alan were still trying to understand Henry and Stanley's story.

"I am indeed mystified as to why the villains would embezzle the electric device consisting electrochemical cells," Tom pondered.

"Alan?" Suzie asked her brother to translate the family genius.

"He has no idea why the kidnappers stole the battery," Alan responded.

"Well, you're not the only one," Suzie sighed. "I'd much rather know why they're going around snatching poor, helpless kids. What do you think, Anne? Anne?" Suzie noticed her tomboy sister just staring outside the kitchen window, looking next door. "Anne, what are you looking at?"

"Just checking out Mrs. Cantanker talking on the phone," Anne replied.

"Are you still on about her being in on the kidnappings?" Alan queried.

"Uh, pretty much, yeah," Anne retorted. "When those goons in leather got jumped by the goons in the hoods, I saw the head hooded honcho with a wooden stick and, even though it was for a split second, I'm sure I saw a white tip at the end of it. I think that was Mrs. Cantanker's cane."

"Anne, we've been over this," Tom reassured his older sister, "it's impossible for an elderly female to perform any illegal activities."

"And do you have a better theory, genius?" Anne demanded a response, but Tom didn't have any.

"That still doesn't make your crackpot guess any better, Annie," Alan teased.

"It couldn't hurt to check it out, though," Anne insisted to her siblings, but they remained skeptical.

"Stop being silly," said Suzie.

"Oh, fine!" Anne snapped. "When you know-it-alls come up with something better, let me know. I'm outta here!" Anne stormed out the kitchen, then turned around and shouted, "And stop calling me 'Annie'!" She then left again.

Back in the living room, Scooter, Nancy, Mimi, and Chu-Chu continued to wait for Flip when they heard a door slam.

"What was that?" asked young Scooter.

"It could've been Anne," Nancy guessed. "I think I just heard her shouting from the kitchen. She sounded pretty mad."

"I bet Alan was making fun of her again," Scooter said, "but I bet she'll get over it once we catch those crooks. They won't get away so easy next time."

Mimi strictly crossed her arms. "If you don't start behaving yourself, Scooter, there won't be another time for you."

"You better quit telling me what to do!" Scooter once again demanded.

"You better start listening to me," Mimi scolded as she placed her hands on her hips. "You disobeyed me not once, but twice out there, and got yourself into trouble. You need to realize that you're still just a child."

"So are you!" Scooter reminded his sister.

"But I'm a year older than you are," Mimi responded to her brother's statement, "and I know what's best for you. You should know that."

Nancy got between her two squabbling siblings. "Alright, alright. That's enough, both of you."

Scooter had all he could take from his bossy sister and stormed off. "Scooter Chan!" Mimi called. "Don't you dare walk away when I'm talking to you."

Ignoring Mimi, Scooter walked out the front door to cool off, slamming the door behind him.


	9. Nightly Abduction

**Chapter 9: Nightly Abduction**

Scooter walked out on the front porch and sat down. "Boy, she thinks she's so smart. She's only older by one dumb grade and she knows everything?" The young Chan stood up and walked further onto the lawn.

"Uh, a little late for a stroll, isn't it?" a voice asked.

Scooter turned around and found his sister, Anne, sitting on an outdoor lounge chair. "Where are you off to, kiddo?" she asked.

"Why?" Scooter huffed. "Are you gonna start telling me I'm too young to go out by myself?"

"Uh, no," said Anne, "but I was gonna tag with you, if you don't mind."

"Well," Scooter thought, "I guess so."

Anne and Scooter walked off for a nightly stroll. Both, however, were completely unaware a shadowy figure was watching them from behind a nearby tree.

As they walked, Anne could tell something was bothering her little brother. "Judging by your earlier complaint, I'm gonna guess that Mimi was nagging you again."

"Yeah," Scooter sighed. "I'm tired of her always telling me what to do. It's the same thing every day. She thinks I can't do anything myself just because I'm the youngest. Aw, you wouldn't get it, though."

"I kinda do," Anne corrected her brother. "Alan and Tom keep thinking I can't do much just because I'm a girl. Humph! I can do anything a boy can do. You know, we're both kinda going through the same grief, just in a different way."

Scooter never realized this before. In a way, he and Anne do share the same dilemma.

"But…" Anne had more to say, "I really think Mimi means well. I admit she shouldn't be hassling you all the time and saying you're just a child when she's only older by a year, which, of course, doesn't say much when you're only seven, but it's probably just her weird…very weird…way of showing she cares."

Scooter started to wonder if Anne may be right, which brought him to ask, "Do you think that's why Alan makes fun of you all the time? 'Cause that's his weird way of showing _he_ cares?"

Anne paused for a moment. She never thought that before. She then shrugged it off and kept walking. "Nah," she replied. "Alan just likes to annoy me."

Several blocks later, Anne was feeling a bit parched. "Hey, what do you say we stop at a gas station for a snack before heading back? A soda for me and an ice cream cone for you."

"Great!" said Scooter. "Uh, wait. What if…"

Anne knew what her youngest sibling was about to ask. "If Mimi has an issue about it, she can take it up with me. Now let's go."

"Oh, good!" Scooter smiled.

The two children walked further along and approached a 24-hour gas station. Anne soon noticed a green box truck parked within it. "Boy, that truck sure looks familiar."

As she and Scooter looked on, two men walked out of the gas service station after purchasing bags of potato chips. As they got into their truck, they both placed black hoods over their heads!

Scooter gasped in shock. "Black hoods! Wow! It's the kidnapp-" Anne covered her brother's mouth before his loud tone could give them away and ducked behind a utility pole close by.

Fortunately, the two Chans were not seen and the criminals sat down in their truck, eating their chips.

"Let's get'em!" Scooter insisted.

"Hold it, tiger," Anne held back her impulsive brother, "they're too big for us. We need reinforcements. Let's call the others on the Chan-Com."

"Right!" Scooter agreed.

But before either of the two could call their siblings, they were both grabbed by the back of their shirts and held up high by yet another black-hooded henchman!

"What do we have here?" he sinisterly cackled. "Two of the famous Charlie Chan's children. Best catch of the day." The bulky criminal continued to laugh maliciously as he approached his comrades in the green truck.

"Are those some of the Chan kids?!" the criminal in the driver's seat asked in excitement.

"Sure is!" the burly captor snickered. "Out for a nightly walk like the boss said. The big cheese will be most pleased with this catch. Open the back!"

The black-hooded man in the passenger seat leapt out and opened the back of the truck and Anne and Scooter were immediately tossed in.

"Oh, and one more thing…" said their captor. The large black-hooded kidnapper grabbed Anne's wrist and removed her Chan-Com, then did the same with Scooter.

"Chan-Coms, huh? Cute toys," he sneered, then crushed both communicators with a single hand. "But you won't need'em where you're goin'!"

The criminals again all laughed maliciously as they closed the truck, locking the helpless Chans inside.


	10. Scooter's Escape

**Chapter 10: Scooter's Escape**

As night became later, the three hooded criminals drove off carrying the two captured Chan children, Anne and Scooter, in the back of their truck.

"Oh," Scooter gloomily groaned, "what do we do now?"

"To tell the truth, Scooter, I truly have no idea," Anne sighed, but perked up. "But we can't let it end this way. We gotta find some way to get the others!"

Scooter bounced back as well. "Yeah! No matter what, we gotta stop these crooked crooks! And give'em a left and a right and a…"

As Scooter attempted to do a karate kick in his rant, his foot accidentally punctured a hole on the side of the truck with his foot still stuck in it.

"Hey," he struggled, "what happened?"

Anne pulled her brother's foot out. "Hey! This truck these goons are using must be really old. I think we can open this hole a little wider and bail out."

Scooter and Anne pulled the weak metal back a bit harder, but they only managed to widen the hole a few inches and no further.

"I think I can squeeze out of that," said Scooter.

"Good," Anne instructed her brother. "The moment the truck stops, climb out, and make a run for it."

"But what about you?" a worried Scooter asked.

"Never mind!" Anne insisted. "Better one of us escape than neither of us."

Seconds later, the kidnappers' truck approached a red traffic light. The moment Anne was waiting for. "Okay, go!"

"Not without you!" Scooter refused.

"Don't argue!" Anne grabbed her little brother and managed to push him through the small hole, despite his resistance.

The sound of Scooter falling on the rough road did not go unnoticed. The large hooded henchman looked through his passenger side mirror. However, he saw nothing. Luckily, Scooter was able to roll under the truck before the criminal could look. Another few seconds later, the truck drove off. Scooter looked on in great sadness as the kidnappers drove away, carrying his big sister with them.

However, knowing every second counts, Scooter quickly picked himself up and made an immediate dash for his home, determined to get help.

Meanwhile, the kidnappers crossed a bridge and approached a large _Keep Out_ sign blocking the road. They drove over a hidden switch in the middle of the road, which caused the _Keep Out_ sign to lower into the ground, allowing the crooks to drive through. Not long after they drove on, the _Keep Out_ sign rose back up to continue blocking the road. They approached a condemned building behind a heavily wired gate. The criminal in the driver's seat stepped out to unlock the gate, returned to his seat, and continued to drive towards the building.

After parking, the three criminals stepped out of their truck and unlocked the back to collect their catch. To their surprise, they only saw one Chan child instead of two.

"Hey, girlie, where'd the runt go?" one of the henchmen threateningly questioned.

"He found some pixie dust and flew away, hoods-for-brain," Anne sarcastically answered.

Furious, the henchman grabbed Anne's arm. "We'll see how smart you are when we put you with the other brats."

The largest henchman grabbed Anne's other arm, pulling her away from his partner and causing her cap to fall off in the truck. "Cool it, dummy! Better one meddling Chan kid than none. And besides, I just spoke to the big cheese on the way here. He has special plans for this one."


	11. To Capture a Kidnapper

**Chapter 11: To Capture a Kidnapper**

Back at the Chan family's home, Henry and Stanley had just returned downstairs and found the rest of their siblings looking around the house as if they were in search of something.

"Hey," Henry called out to his brothers and sisters, "what's going on?"

"We're trying to find Anne and Scooter," Flip answered his brother.

"We can't find either of them anywhere," Nancy said with dread.

Henry and Stanley looked at each other, concerned. "Well, what happened when you last saw them?" Henry questioned.

"Anne last stormed out of the room of the culinary after an unfortunate disagreement," Tom informed his eldest brother.

"And Scooter," Mimi pouted while placing her hands on her hips, "he runs out after throwing a childish tantrum…again."

"In other words," Suzie reworded her youngest sister's statement, "Mimi was bossing Scooter around…again."

As Mimi crossed her arms pouting, Henry continued to question his siblings. "Did you check outside?"

"That was the first place we looked since that's where they went after they left us," Suzie further explained, "but there was nothing. We assumed they probably snuck back in and hid themselves as a joke, but that doesn't seem to be the case."

"To make things worse," Nancy shuddered, "we tried calling them on their Chan-Coms, but neither of them would answer. We're starting to get worried."

"May I ask why is everyone still awake?" The Chan Clan's conversation was interrupted by the concerned voice of their father.

"Oh, sorry, Pop," Suzie apologized, "but we're trying to find Scooter and Anne."

"Yeah," Stanley said, "they're gone." The second eldest Chan child quickly disguised himself as Sherlock Holmes. "But fret not. Sherlock Stanley will find them in no time."

"Will you get out of that stupid disguise?!" Henry ordered. "Now let's check outside one more time to be sure."

Henry opened the front door, and in an instant, he heard a certain young voice.

"Henry! Henry!" It was young Scooter running as fast as his six-year-old feet could take him. "Henry! Pop! Chief!"

"Scooter?" Flip appeared at the front door alongside Henry.

Their father approached as well along with Mimi, who was in a scolding mood. "Scooter Chan! Do you know what time it is? Where were you this late? We were worried sick."

"Not now!" Scooter ran to his father and pulled on his hand. "Hurry, you gotta come! Anne's in trouble!"

The remaining middle Chan children, along with Nancy and Chu-Chu, gasped in shock.

"What do you mean?" a concerned Henry asked.

Young Scooter explained with great haste, "We were going to the gas station place to get some snacks, but those kidnapper guys were there and found us and took our Chan-Coms. I got away, but they still got Anne!"

"Holy mackerel!" a worried Alan face palmed. "You take your eyes off her for a moment and look what happens!"

"We gotta do something!" a determined Stanley, removed from his Sherlock costume, said.

"And we will indeed," his father agreed. The knowledgeable detective walked off his front porch and headed next door.

"Hey, Pop," called Flip, "where're ya goin'?"

"To visit our ill-tempered neighbor," Charlie answered his eager son.

Inquisitive, as always, the nine children followed.

Charlie knocked on the door of the ever-grumpy Mrs. Cantanker, and the foul-tempered woman answered.

"Oh, it's you, Chan," the old woman grumbled with great annoyance. "What do you want this late?"

"Please pardon, Mrs. Cantanker," the polite Mr. Chan avowed, "but I was hoping you would tell me where my daughter, Anne, was taken."

"Huh?!" the Chan Clan all gasped while peeping over their fence.

"What are you getting at, Chan?" Mrs. Cantanker murmured.

As Charlie began to speak, the curious Chu-Chu, was sniffing the lawn of their hostile neighbor, and eventually sniffed his way into her home unnoticed.

"I believe I am stating that you are one of the kidnappers we have been searching for." The wise Charlie Chan had exposed the elderly woman's true identity!

"What proof do you have of this?" Cantanker demanded to know.

"You mean apart from you being left-handed like one of the criminals described and the kidnappings in this town starting not long after your arrival?" Charlie explained his deduction. "It was your cane. While I was searching the park after the abduction of the twin boys, I noticed small hole prints in the ground. They were the same hole prints your cane leaves. Also, I have looked up your previous residences. You have lived in five different states before coming here, the very same states the other kidnappings took place."

"That's pretty clever of ya, Chan," Cantanker growled, "but you'll need better evidence than that to nail me!"

The bark of the Chans' family dog was then heard. Chu-Chu exited Mrs. Cantanker's house wearing a black-hooded mask with white tiger stripes on it over his head!

Noticing this, Charlie disclosed, "I believe that would be the better evidence."

"Okay, Chan," Cantanker backed away slowly, "you may have the answers, but you don't have me!"

Right away, she pressed a button on the back of her cane, opening her garage and revealing a motorcycle. Despite her elderly body, she was quick on her feet and made a run for it.

"She's getting away!" Scooter alerted his siblings.

"Oh, no, she won't!" Flip pulled out the dragnet he fetched from the family's shed. "Quick, Nancy! Grab one end of the net."

Nancy obeyed her brother and the two, beating Cantanker to her motorcycle, wrapped the villainous woman in the net. As she struggled, Henry and Stanley both grabbed her to prevent her from breaking free.

"Let me go!" the old woman yelled.

"We'll let you go when the police get here!" Henry retaliated.

"Well, that wraps up this case!" Flip proudly said.

"I'm afraid not, Flip," his father disagreed.

"Huh?" Flip asked.

"What do you mean?" asked Mimi.

"We merely apprehended the head leader of the henchmen," Charlie stated. "The real mastermind of this kidnapping scheme is still out there."

As most of the Chan children looked on in fright, the three middle children were consumed with guilt.

"It would appear that Anne's theory was highly precise," Tom said.

"Yeah," sighed the eldest Chan daughter, "I guess she owes us another 'I told you so'…if we ever see her again."

Alan placed his hand on Suzie's shoulder as a sign of comfort. "Don't talk like that, Suzie. Of course we will."


	12. Finding the Hideout

**Chapter 12: Finding the Hideout**

The next morning, long after Mrs. Cantanker had been arrested, the Chan Clan had rested, eaten, but were still terribly worried for their missing sister.

Their father had left early to continue his investigation and ordered his children to remain until he returned.

"I know Pop is worried we might get heisted, too," Flip anxiously spoke up, "but we can't just sit here. We gotta do something!"

"Yeah, do something!" Scooter agreed.

"But what?" Nancy asked.

"Perhaps," Tom suggested, "if we search the crime scene where Anne and Scooter were last present before being apprehended, we may find clues to the kidnappers' hideout."

"No good." Alan saw a flaw in that plan. "If we go to that gas station, there's a good chance Pop will be there. He'll spot us."

"Well…I don't know about finding clues," Henry pondered, "but there may be another way to find those crooks' hideout. If we go to the spot where Scooter was before he escaped, maybe Chu-Chu can pick up Anne's scent from there and lead us to where they got her and maybe the other kids who are kidnapped."

"Great idea!" Suzie smiled.

"Yeah!" Flip agreed, then turned towards Chu-Chu. "What do you say, Chu-Chu? Think you can do it?"

Chu-Chu, confident and eager to help his owners, barked in agreement.

"Alright," Henry instructed his siblings, "but we better stick close. We can't risk any more of us getting caught. Let's go!"

The Chan Clan and Chu-Chu headed to the Chan Van and took their seats inside.

"Isn't there a chance Pop might spot us out driving?" Stanley asked his older brother.

"Not if the van's in a good disguise," Henry replied. "Better hit Chan Plan 5."

Stanley obeyed his sibling. "Chan Plan 5 coming up."

After pressing number 5 on the controls, the Chan Van converted into a long, navy blue Limousine with tinted windows.

"Now we're…" before Henry could finish his sentence, he looked over to see Stanley in disguise again. "Just what are you supposed to be now?"

"I'm disguised as a chauffeur," Stanley answered as he lowered his disguised hat down a little. "Pop definitely won't recognize me now."

"Of course he won't," Henry retorted, "the windows are tinted! He won't even see you, you dum-dum! Now get out of that stupid disguise."

Stanley removed his disguise. "Yeesh! And I thought Cantanker was a grouch."

The Chan Clan children drove off.

They soon approached the gas station Scooter and Anne were on their way to the previous night and, as Alan guessed, their father was there with several other policemen investigating.

Fortunately, the children were able to drive by unnoticed. As they continued down the road, half a mile later, they eventually came to a temporary stop at a traffic light.

"This is it!" Scooter rowed down his side of the car window. "This is where me and Anne were before we got split up."

"Okay, Chu-Chu," Henry commanded, "see if you can pick up Anne's trail."

The loyal Pekingese leaped out of the disguised Chan Van and sniffed around the road. It didn't take him long until he caught his missing owner's scent and pointed straight ahead.

"Follow that nose!" Stanley called out.

Chu-Chu hopped back in the Chan Van and the kids drove off.

Several more miles later, the kids crossed a bridge and approached a large _Keep Out_ sign blocking the road.

"Are you sure they went this way, Chu-Chu?" Henry asked their dog.

Chu-Chu barked and nodded, "Ruh-huh! Ruh-huh!"

"Where could they have gone?" asked a puzzled Tom.

"Let's get out and look for a lead," a determined Henry implied. "There's no way they could've just vanished."

The nine Chans exited the Chan Van and looked around for clues to the kidnappers' whereabouts. Nothing was found.

Suddenly while searching, Nancy ended up clumsily tripping over Chu-Chu and accidentally falling on the hidden switch in the road. The Chan children watched in amazement as the false _Keep Out_ sign sank into the ground and showed the road going on further. They all rushed back into the Chan Van before the sign rose back up and drove on.

After several more minutes, the Chan Clan reached the wired gate and spotted the condemned building behind it. Henry parked the Chan Van and the children exited the vehicle to inspect the building.

"The trail leads here, Chu-Chu?" asked Henry.

Again, Chu-Chu barked and nodded, "Ruh-huh! Ruh-huh!"

"This has to be those kidnappers' hideout," Stanley pointed ahead to the driveway of the building where a brown truck was parked. "That's the same truck those goons had when they stole the battery thing."

"Yeah, and look!" Alan pointed next to the small brown truck, and the Chan Clan spotted the large green box truck. "That's the truck the kidnappers were driving when they grabbed those kids in leather."

"And it's the same truck me and Anne were in!" Scooter added.

"That settles it," Henry stated. "We gotta get in there."

"Hmm," the intelligent Tom studied the fence a bit. "I believe our first primary objective should be to enter the premises as well. If we could find a long wooden branch or flexible pole, we could pole vault over the fence."

"Uh, Tom…" Henry opened the gate. "The gate was already unlocked. We could just walk in."

"Oh, right…" Tom stuttered with embarrassment. "That works, too."

The Chans walked through the gate, following Chu-Chu as he sniffed his way to the green box truck.

Fortunately, the back of the truck was unlocked. Unfortunately, they did not find their abducted sister inside.

"Maybe we got the wrong place after all," sighed the young Mimi.

Alan, however, caught sight of something else. "Hey, look!" On the floor of the truck, the inventing genius found a familiar-looking baseball cap and grabbed it on the spot.

"It's Anne's cap!" he said with glee. "She _was_ here!"

With hope of finding their sister growing brighter, the Chans decided to search for a way inside the building.

"Hey, look!" Stanley pointed far down to their left side. "There's a busted open window."

The Chans walked towards the window and looked through it. It was completely empty and pitch dark inside the building. Nevertheless, the strong-willed children weren't going to let that stop them. They each climbed in through the window and started to search the deserted room they entered.

"It sure is spooky here," Mimi whimpered.

"This place is huge," Flip said in awe. "How are we gonna find Anne and the kids in this?"

"I don't know," Henry scratched his head, "but we're getting close. I don't know why, but I get the feeling the answer is right under our noses."

"It's way too dark in here," a frightened Nancy gulped. "Maybe we should turn the lights on." The slightly obese girl located a small square button on the wall close by her and pressed it. However, to everyone's surprise, it caused the whole floor beneath them to open up and everyone fell through as it closed up behind them.


	13. Save the Children

**Chapter 13: Save the Children**

The Chans and Chu-Chu fell many feet down before they finally landed on a large, but soft cushion.

Upon climbing off and standing on the rock-hard floor, the kids felt even more baffled about their situation.

"Where are we?" asked Suzie.

"Looks like some sort of underground cave," Henry guessed. "And look. There's a tunnel up ahead."

"Hey," Tom looked down and picked up a small stone. "Look at this. It's a piece of a cleared mineral made of carbon atoms crystallized in a cubic, or isometric, arrangement."

Not understanding a word their brother said, everyone turned to Alan and he translated with one simple word, "Diamond."

"Wow!" Mimi awed the small crystal. "A diamond cave?"

"Come on, you guys," Flip interrupted. "We're on a case here. Let's see where this cave leads."

"Flip's right. Let's go." Henry led the way and his siblings followed.

After a while, the Chan Clan were still walking down the tunnel, becoming exhausted.

"I'm beat," panted Suzie.

"Me too," whined Mimi.

Despite feeling worn out himself, Flip kept urging his sisters. "Come on, girls. We can't quit now. We might be closing in on the crooks."

"Well, we're closing in on something." Stanley pointed straight up ahead to a light at the end of the tunnel.

The Chans quickly dashed towards the light and finally arrived at the end of the tunnel. They found themselves at the top of a very large, very deep cavern. At the bottom of the cave floor, they found children. Dozens of them. All mining the caves, filling the mine carts with diamonds against their will with men in black hoods standing not far behind them.

Wasn't hard for the Chan Clan to figure out these were all the missing children.

"Those poor kids," Suzie started to tear up.

"Hey, look," Alan pointed down to several familiar figures. "There are those kids in leather."

"And look," Stanley pointed down to a pair of identical young boys. "Those are probably the missing twin kids."

As Scooter gripped his small fist in anger, Mimi, also upset, expressed her sorrow. "Kidnapping kids to make them dig for diamonds? That's so mean!"

Tom had more disturbing news to the calamity. "You know what's even more troublesome? I still don't see Anne anywhere. I do not believe she's down there."

His siblings all looked down upon the many children, and Tom was right. Their tomboy sister was still missing.

"I bet one of those hooded goons know where she is," the ambitious Flip suspected.

"Yeah," Suzie said with disappointment, "but good luck getting them to tell us. The police interrogated Mrs. Cantanker all night and she wouldn't tell anything about where Anne was or who her head boss is."

"Maybe she's in one of those other caves," Stanley assumed. "I mean, look. There's gotta be like a hundred of 'em. Maybe Anne's in one of them mining."

"No, but I'll happily put you snoopers to work in one of them!" said an unfamiliar voice from behind. The Chans turned around and found the bulkiest of the hooded kidnappers coming towards them.

"Run for it!" Henry shouted to his siblings.

As the Chan Clan and Chu-Chu made their way down a path next to them with great haste, the large henchman pressed a red button on a cavern wall near him, sounding an alarm, and alerting the other kidnappers of the Chan Clan's presence.

The children continued down their path until it led them to three different ones, but before they could decide which path to take, they noticed each one had a kidnapper headed towards them.

Fortunately, the luck of the Chans had not ran out. There was an entrance to another cave tunnel right next to them. As they ran down the tunnel, they approached an elevator shaft leading up and out of the underground cave.

After arriving at the very top, the Chan children located a closed door. Upon opening it, they found themselves back inside the condemned building, but in a different large empty room.

They exited the elevator, but knew they weren't out of danger just yet.

"What do we do now?" asked a frightened Nancy as she and Mimi clanged to each other. "They'll be coming after us any minute."

"And we'll be ready for them when they do," Henry avowed. "I got an idea." Everyone huddled up and Henry whispered his plan.

Before long, they noticed the elevator starting to go back down, meaning the kidnappers were summoning it to pursue the children, and the Chan Clan quickly scurried off.

Five henchmen soon came out of the elevator and entered the room. Knowing the nine children couldn't be far, they headed out into the hallway. As they walked further down, they soon stopped at a frightening sight.

The Chans' dog, Chu-Chu confronted the villains, wearing his favorite yellow dragon mask, growling. Not knowing it was just a small dog in a mask, the kidnappers were easily frightened and ran off. To keep up the charade, Chu-Chu chased after them. In their state of fright, the hooded men split up into two different rooms. Knowing he's done enough, Chu-Chu stopped his pursuit.

Within one of the rooms, two of the criminals tried to catch their breaths. "What was that?" asked one. "Beats me," panted the other.

Before they could figure out anything further, a suit of armor next to them started to move. The second the crooks noticed this, they shrieked in terror, and jumped inside an opened trunk. The moment they were inside, Nancy and Mimi closed the trunk, locking them inside. The suit of armor was then revealed to have had Scooter and Flip inside, operating it. The two boys laughed at their successful prank and the girls shook hands for a job well done.

Within the other room, the other three henchmen were still startled from their encounter with the disguised Chu-Chu. The three were completely unaware Tom and Alan were right above them on top of a large shelf. They threw a large curtain over the kidnappers and, using a lasso rope, they ensnared the crooks.

On another side of the mysterious building, two more criminals entered the hallway through another secret passage. As they began their search for the Chan Clan, they are soon met by Stanley, disguised as a butler.

"Greetings, kind sirs," Stanley addressed the henchmen using an Italian accent. "May I show you to your table?"

"It's one of those Chan kids!" shouted one of the henchmen. "Get him!"

Knowing he failed to trick the villains, Stanley removed his disguise and fled. "How'd they know it was me?!" he asked himself.

Down the hall, in a room straight ahead, Henry and Suzie were waiting, each on one side of the door holding an end of a lowered rope.

"They're coming! They're coming!" Stanley shouted to them.

"That was sooner than expected," Suzie said to Henry.

"I'm guessing the disguise didn't fool them," Henry face palmed. "Why doesn't that surprise me?"

Stanley dashed through the door, signaling his siblings. Henry and Suzie pulled on their ends of the rope, tripping Stanley's two pursuers as they entered.

Stanley threw another large curtain over the kidnappers and Henry quickly tied them up with the rope.

"Alright!" Suzie cheered. "Did we get them all?"

Suddenly, Suzie was grabbed from behind by the largest of the hooded kidnappers. "Not quite!" he wickedly answered.

"Suzie!" gasped Stanley.

"Let her go!" Henry furiously ordered the crook.

"I'll give the orders here, kid," the criminal retorted as Suzie struggled in vain to get free. "So unless you want to be short another sister, you'll do as I…"

The hooded villain was cut short as someone crept up behind him and bashed him on the head with a thick, heavy vase, knocking him unconscious and saving Suzie.

Suzie's rescuer was none other than Scooter standing on Flip's shoulders.

The rest of the Chan Clan, and Chu-Chu, all met up and congratulated each other for their success.

"Now all we gotta do is call Pop and the police," Stanley smiled.

"That won't be necessary," said a familiar voice.

The children looked behind them and found Charlie Chan had already arrived with several policemen standing behind him.

"Pop! How'd you find this place?" the eldest Chan son asked, greatly surprised.

"The green truck, Henry," Charlie answered. "The elderly clerk at the filling station informed me of the gentlemen, who unknown to him were the kidnappers, driving the old green truck last night. He also mentioned the last time he saw a truck like that, it delivered items to an old museum decades ago. And it just so happens, this old building once was that museum."

Half an hour later, the condemned building was surrounded by policemen. The black-hooded henchmen were all arrested and locked away in police vans and all the abducted children were removed from the underground caves and rescued.

The police lieutenant walked over to Mr. Chan and his children wishing to congratulate and thank them for being a great help, but the Chan family were too sadden to accept any gratitude.

"What's the matter, Chan?" the policeman asked. "You and your family had accomplished a great deed here."

"Please pardon, lieutenant," Charlie sighed, "but it is hard to feel delighted when a member of your family remains missing."

"Yeah," said Scooter. "I was sure if we found the bad guys' place, we would find Anne, too."

"Me too," Alan sadly agreed as he still held onto his sister's cap.

"Do not lose hope, children," Charlie reassured his offspring. "Remember, we still haven't apprehended the head culprit. I am certain once he makes his move, we'll find a clue to Anne's whereabouts."

Though Stanley felt a bit doubtful, he believed in his father's theory. "Yeah, I guess, but who knows when that'll happen?"

All of a sudden, the ground began to shake greatly.

"What's going on? An earthquake?" Mimi fretted as she held onto Nancy.

"I don't think so," Nancy gulped. "Look!"

Several feet away from the police vehicles, the ground slowly started to open up, revealing an underground entrance. Once completely opened, the ground stopped trembling.

At that very moment, a large, 80-foot long, robotic, three-headed dragon emerged.

The Chan Clan, their father, the policemen, and everyone else in the area all looked on in shock as the ferocious-looking creature flew off into the sky.

"What was that?" Henry gasped.

"I believe that was the reason the Powercell battery was stolen from the mall," Charlie Chan deduced.

"Wham bam, we're in a jam!" said Stanley.


	14. Threatening Message

**Chapter 14: Threatening Message**

Late that evening, the Chan family returned home with the police lieutenant. They watched the news report and learned it didn't take long before folks noticed the dragon robot. Many terrorized citizens were evacuating the city, but city mayor, Boxelder, refused to abandon his town. He assured everyone this dragon will be dealt with as soon as possible.

"Freaky," said Alan with a bit of amazement.

"Wow," Stanley quavered. "I wonder what that thing is made of anyway."

"Obviously some sort of metal," Tom theorized. "I'm not certain, but it looks like some sort of tungsten, or wolfram."

"That's exactly what it is, Tom," Charlie Chan agreed as he pulled out a small sample of the said metal. "And that's also what the abducted children were really mining for."

"But I thought they were mining for diamonds to make the kidnappers rich," said a confused Mimi.

"No," her father explained, "the diamonds were merely a bonus. They were really searching for this rare metal so they could create their robotic dragon. This tungsten is as hard as it is rare and would not be very easy to deal with."

While the cunning detective was giving his youngest daughter this explanation, Tom walked over to the dining table and decided to look up more information on the rare metal on the family laptop. All of a sudden, an instant e-mail message appeared on screen for Mr. Chan. Not wanting to disturb his father, Tom decided to read the message himself. The moment he opened the message, he became greatly startled.

"Well," Alan glumly said, "the crook has made his move, but we still don't have a clue where he or Anne is."

"Uh…correction. We _do_ have a clue to Anne's whereabouts," Tom corrected his brother.

Everyone turned towards Tom, both surprised and confused. "Look at this," he told them.

The Chan family, police lieutenant, and Chu-Chu walked over to Tom and he revealed a shocking sight on the laptop…a picture of an unconscious Anne in a dark area, tied to a steel pole!

"It's Anne!" cried Mimi.

"And there's more." Tom showed a message below the horrific photo and read it aloud, "Your daughter is inside my dragon. Unless you want her harmed, stop your meddling and leave town."

"Well, what are we waiting for?" Flip compelled his siblings. "Let's go find that dragon!"

Scooter again approved of his brother's decision, "Yeah, let's go!"

"Calm down, all of you," Charlie instructed his children. "Now I believe I may have the answer to this mystery, but I need to go with the lieutenant and make certain of a few things. In the meantime, I want you all to remain here until I return."

Henry was very reluctant to accept his father's request. "But, Pop, what about that robot?"

"I assure you I will be fine, Henry," Charlie calmed his son. "Now I'll see you all later."

Charlie left the house with the lieutenant, closing the door behind them.

"I don't like it," Flip grunted. "The crook could use the dragon to snatch up Pop while we're just sitting here."

"You heard Pop," Henry reminded his little brother. "We're supposed to wait here."

Flip contended, "But what's to stop the crook from using that dragon to come here, smash the house, and snag any one of us? So when you think about it, we're not really safe here either."

"He's got a point, Henry," Stanley shrugged.

Suzie expressed her concern. "While I agree, what can we do even if we find that dragon? How can we stop it?"

"I believe," Tom considered, "that the first step in our agenda should be to rescue our mutual sibling and I recommend we do it immediately." Tom showed a news article he just found on the laptop to the rest of the Clan. "It says the mayor has ordered an army with heavy assault missiles to come and destroy the dragon."

"With Anne in it?!" Alan gasped. "Oh, man! We gotta think of something!"

Henry suddenly came up with a brainstorm. "Alan, couldn't you make a gizmo to cut through the metal? Some sort of laser or something?"

"Well, probably," Alan said uncertainly, "but because of the size of that thing, I don't think I can make one strong enough to totally take it out, and even if I could, there's no way I'd be able to make it before the cavalry gets here."

"We don't need something to actually destroy it," Henry explained, "just something to slow it down or wear it out so we can save Anne."

"Well, I don't know…" Alan remained unsure of this. However, the moment he placed his hand in his pocket, he unintentionally pulled out Anne's cap, which he was still carrying. Realizing his sister needed him now more than ever, the inventing genius lost all doubts. "…but I'm willing to give it a go!"


	15. Operation: Rescue Anne

**Chapter 15: Operation: Rescue Anne**

Hours have passed and nighttime had arrived. The Chan Clan were all inside the Chan Van driving around starting a nightly search for the robotic dragon. Above them was a drone Alan personally invented, shaped like their dog, Chu-Chu, flying high in the sky.

"Anybody see anything?" asked Henry.

Alan was viewing everything his drone could see with the family laptop. "Not yet," he answered his brother. "I don't get it. Something that big shouldn't be hard to find."

"Maybe the crook built a robot that's afraid of the dark. Heh-heh-heh!" Stanley joked.

"Oohhh!" his siblings all groaned with great irritation.

"Will you stop those rotten jokes?" Henry demanded. "Now keep your eyes opened."

"Hold it!" said Alan. "I got something."

Minus Henry and Stanley whom were in the front seat, everyone looked on the laptop and saw the 80-foot dragon flying in the sky.

"It appears to be heading for the platform where many go to apprehend the scaly Osteichthyes," Tom scientifically detailed.

"Huh?!" a puzzled Scooter scratched his head.

"Fish," Alan translated. "He said the dragon's heading for a fishing pier. The Oceanic Reef Pier downtown, from the looks of it."

"I know a shortcut there. We'll head it off before it gets to the pier." Henry made a sharp u-turn, taking a quick route towards their destination.

Within a short while, the Chan Clan arrived at the fishing pier way ahead of the dragon and, along with the real Chu-Chu, exited the Chan Van.

As they walked out on the pier, Henry kept watch on the sky for the mechanical menace. "I wonder where Anne is."

"She's in the robot dragon," Stanley said.

"I know that!" Henry snarled. "I mean where in the dragon is she?"

"That can be answered," Alan assured his brother.

Using the laptop, Alan had the Chu-Chu drone fly up high, facing the approaching dragon. "Alright. Zoom and x-ray." Alan activated a special scanning device within the drone, allowing him to examine the dragon and see within it. Within a few seconds, Alan located his captive sister, still unconscious and tied to a pole within the neck of the dragon's middle head.

"If I could just get the drone inside that middle head without damaging it, I might be able to free her," the clever inventor figured.

"First we gotta get that dragon's attention," Henry stated. "Then no matter what, we can't let it leave this area."

Flip looked over yards away to a sailboat and noticed several high-powered, super-bright searchlights on it. "Leave that to us. Let's go, troops." Taking Nancy, Mimi, Scooter, and Chu-Chu with him, Flip raced to the small boat.

Once on, the four youngest each grabbed a searchlight and aimed it for the sky. Once the dragon robot got close enough to fly over the water, Flip and his group each turned on their light, flashing them on the flying beast.

The dragon stopped within midair and gazed down on the five children on the pier and then on the four children on the boat. It decided to fly towards the four youngest. "Yikes!" shrieked Nancy. "It's coming this way!"

"That's our cue." Using the laptop, Alan signaled his Chu-Chu drone, making it circle around the dragon's three heads like a fly circles a human's face. All three heads attempted to bite down on the dog-shaped drone and Alan struggled to prevent his creation from being destroyed before it could complete its task. Eventually, the middle head's mouth opened at just the right moment and the Chu-Chu drone flew inside unharmed.

Once the flashlights within its eyes were activated, the canine drone headed straight down the dragon's throat. It passed several wires, cords, and poles until finally it approached the pole holding young Anne.

"Time for Operation: Rescue Tomboy," said Alan.

"Flip!" Henry called over to his younger brother. "Keep the dragon distracted long enough for us to free Anne. When she falls out of the robot, you guys catch her!"

Flip waved back. "Got it, Henry!" He then gave his team his instructions. "Okay, here's the plan: Scooter, you, Mimi, and Chu-Chu keep those lights on that flying tin can. Nancy and I will grab one of those fishing nets to catch Anne."

"Gotcha, Chief," Scooter said proudly.

As the four youngest Chans performed their parts, Alan proceeded to his next move. "Now let's hope this laser works."

Within the dragon, the Chu-Chu drone then fired lasers from its eyes to melt open a hole large enough for Anne to escape through. Due to the tungsten the dragon was made of being incredibly strong, the drone needed some more time.

Back on the sailboat, Mimi and Scooter continued blinding the dragon with their lights. Finally, the dragon tired of its pursuit on the four youngest and decided to target the five children on the pier instead!

"Henry," quavered Stanley, "it's coming this way! What'll we do?"

"I'll tell you when I think of it!" gulped Henry.

All of a sudden, a familiar bark was heard. The children looked over the pier to find their faithful house pet in the water carrying some extra searchlights, which luckily turned out to be waterproof, strapped to him.

"Right on, Chu-Chu!" cheered Alan.

"Good boy, Chu-Chu!" praised Suzie.

Henry and Stanley quickly lowered a rope for Chu-Chu to grab hold of and pulled him up. Once they received the bright lights from him, they immediately blinded the incoming robot with them.

Just then, a large chunk of metal fell into the deep water, revealing the Chu-Chu drone had finished melting open an escape hole and just moved on to gnawing the rope restraining Anne.

Regrettably, several wires and cords were damaged when the metal was melted off, resulting in the robotic dragon malfunctioning. It began to fly out of control in the sky. Then, without warning, a familiar figure fell out of the robot.

"It's Anne!" yelled Stanley.

The siblings watched as their sister, still passed out, fell from the dragon's robotic throat and into the deep river.

"Oh, no! Anne!" Alan passed the laptop to Tom and ran off, followed by the rest of his siblings and Chu-Chu. The four preteens on the sailboat also followed.

Alan reached the shoreline in time to see his comatose sister floating sideways far out in the water and rushed in to retrieve her. "I'm coming, Annie!"

Alan desperately swam out as fast as he could, but the very moment he got close, Anne's unconscious body sank into the river. "Annie!" Without a second's hesitation, Alan dove in after her. He was successfully able to pull her back up above water and swam back to shore with her.

Once on dry land, Alan attempted to revive his sister. "Anne. Anne! Come on, Annie, wake up!" He shook her some and tapped her face a little. "Come on, Annie. Say something."

Suddenly, Anne's eyes began to slowly open and in response to her brother's request, she said, "Don't call me 'Annie'." Thus earning a relieved smile from Alan.

The rest of the Chans arrived to join the happy reunion. Scooter and Mimi were the first to greet Anne with a hug after Alan helped her up. Chu-Chu followed, leaping into the tomboy's arms and licking her face. "Okay, easy, Chu-Chu," she chuckled. "My face is wet enough already."

The Chan Clan was now whole again.


	16. Stop the Dragon

**Chapter 16: Stop the Dragon**

Alas, the children's happy moment was unfortunately interrupted by the robot dragon's roar. The kids watched as the metal creature continued to soar around the sky uncontrollably.

"Uh…" Stanley jokingly stuttered, "you think we should do something about that?"

"I don't know," Alan replied. "The drone used up a lot of power just trying to make that escape hole. I don't think there's much else we can do."

"Too bad we can't just take out its batteries," said Scooter.

"What do you mean?" asked Nancy.

"You know how a lot of toys don't work without their batteries?" Scooter answered. "If we could take out the dragon's batteries, maybe it'll stop working."

"Oh, Scooter," Mimi lectured, "stop being silly."

"Hey, that's a great idea!" said Henry.

"What?" a baffled Mimi questioned her eldest brother. "It is? How?"

"The Powercell battery they stole from the mall!" Henry explained. "That's what's powering that thing. If we can remove it…"

"…The dragon will shut down and stop working!" continued Alan. The family inventor took back the laptop from Tom. "One problem: I can't do an x-ray scan from inside the robot. It'll take me a while to figure out where they got the battery hooked up in there."

"Allow me to save you the search," Anne assisted her brother. "It's right in the center of its stomach. I saw them install it there before they had me strapped up."

Following Anne's lead, Alan had the Chu-Chu drone fly down into the dragon's stomach and found the Powercell battery functioning inside a case. Using the jaws on the Chu-Chu drone, Alan was able to pry the battery out of its case, causing the robot to cut off. With no power, the mechanical reptile ceased flying and plundered into the river. Fortunately for Alan, he was able to fly his drone out in time carrying the battery, thanks to the escape hole that was made earlier in the dragon's neck. The drone flew onto shore and delivered the battery to Tom.

"Gotta return this electric device to its proper establishment," the brainy child smiled.

The Chan Clan all raised their fists into the air, cheering themselves for another job well done.

Alan then turned towards Anne and stuttered, "Uh, Anne…about the other day…"

Scooter tugged on Anne's shirt and whispered, "He did do a lot to save you."

Knowing what her little brother said couldn't be more true, Anne decided to be more forgiving towards her elder brother. "I won't say 'I told you so' about Cantanker if you won't make any wisecracks about saving me later. Deal?"

"That takes the fun out of things," Alan chuckled, "but sounds fair."


	17. The Mastermind Cornered

**Chapter 17: The Mastermind Cornered**

"We'd better hurry and get back," Henry instructed his siblings. "Pop might be home already. We don't want him to worry."

"Good idea," Suzie agreed.

"By the way, Anne," Flip wondered, "did you ever catch a glimpse of the head honcho behind all this?"

"Not really. Sorry," Anne shook her head. "It was kinda hard to see his face under that red mask."

"Red mask?" asked a surprised Henry.

"Yeah," Anne added. "He had a hooded mask like the other crooks, but his was red with black stripes. He also had some sort of long, dark cape."

While Anne was describing the lead kidnapper, Scooter noticed something approaching him and his siblings from behind. "Uh…like him?"

The Chan Clan turned around to see a red-hooded caped man with a net-launching bazooka facing them.

"Yeah," fretted Anne, "that's him."

The villain fired a large net onto the Clan, ensnaring all ten children and their dog.

"Well now," the hooded man walked towards the children, "that dragon took me many months to have created. I went through a lot of trouble gathering those kids and finding that metal. I can't just give up here, now can I? I guess I'll just have to start over from scratch then."

The vile fiend then pulled out a flamethrower and fired a few flames into the air. "But first, I think it would be best if I exterminated you pesky kids."

The helpless Chans could only look on as the kidnapper prepared to finish them off.

"It would be wise if you ceased right there," a voice said from behind the crook. It was Charlie Chan, just in time!

The villain turned towards the famous detective, glaring his sinister eyes. "You should've left town when I told you to, Chan."

Charlie sighed, "Did you really expect me to evacuate despite being one child short…. Mr. Mayor Boxelder?"

Once again, the keen-eyed detective had identified the criminal. The hooded man removed his mask and the Chan Clan gasped in shock. He was indeed the city mayor, Harvey M. Boxelder. "What tipped you off, Chan?"

Charlie explained his deduction, "Mrs. Cantanker's phone was the key evidence. We merely checked its contact list and your number was the only one on it. Also, we have searched your office and had found several diamonds hidden inside one of your briefcases. In addition to that, I have heard you'd given the army very specific details about what kind of missiles to use on the dragon. Only the person who created the robotic creature could know what certain weapons to use to defeat it. However, I must say, you really gave yourself away when we first met at the park. If I recall, you said you heard about the kidnapping and came to the park to console the grieving mother. How could you have known her exact whereabouts? Perhaps one of your accomplices, say Mrs. Cantanker, had informed you she was there."

"My, you are every bit as clever as they say," an impressed Boxelder sneered, "but I'm afraid you'll need more than brains to save your neck. In fact, your timing is impeccable. I can get rid of both you and your meddling kids at the same time."

The brilliant detective had not come unprepared. Before Boxelder could trigger his flamethrower, he was instantly surrounded by a dozen of police cars. Knowing resistance was futile, Boxelder surrendered.

"And that wraps up this case!" Flip cheered.

As the devious mayor was arrested, several policemen released the Chan Clan from their imprisoning net and they all rushed to their father filled with the greatest of joy.

"Pop!" said a cheerful Mimi. "Are we glad to see you!"

"And I am glad to see you as well," Charlie looked over to Anne, " _all_ of you. Now I believe we should all head home. It's been a long night for all of us."


	18. Family Photo

**Chapter 18: Family Photo**

The following day was the day the family picture was to be taken. As they waited for the photographer to arrive, Charlie Chan and his three eldest children, all in the new clothes they had purchased from the mall, watched the news report discussing the kidnapping case being solved.

"Can you believe that mayor?" said Suzie. "Kidnapping all those kids to dig up that metal so he could build that monster dragon."

"Yeah," added Stanley, "and trying to look like a hero by getting rid of it and pretending to find the missing kids later."

Henry continued, "And then he would've been a shoo-in to win the next election for U.S. president he was nominated for."

Stanley looked out the window and spotted a car pulling up. "Hey, it's the photographer!"

"Suzie," Charlie asked his daughter, "would you be so kind as to call the rest of your siblings down while I greet the photographer?"

"Of course, Pop." Suzie left the couch and walked over to the stairway. "Okay, everybody! The photographer's here. Time to come down…and that means you, too, Anne."

Tom was the first to come downstairs in his new suit, followed by Alan and a reluctantly dressed and still hatless Anne.

"Ugh!" Anne complained as she struggled to adjust the collar of her dress to her liking. "Ya know, this kinda makes me think I was better off kidnapped."

Alan placed his sister's cap on her head and teasingly pulled it down over her face. "Give it a rest, Annie," he playfully said as he walked off.

Anne pulled her cap back up and, feeling touched enough to ignore her brother's teasing, followed him.

Chu-Chu soon rushed downstairs wearing his new black bow tie, followed by an adorably dressed Mimi. Right after Mimi arrived downstairs, an energetic and well-dressed Scooter ran past her.

"Scooter Chan!" she shouted, placing her hands on her hips.

Annoyed, Scooter stopped. "What now?"

Scooter surprisingly found a dressed Nancy and Flip covering his bossy sister's mouth, preventing her from lecturing him any further. "Nothing!" they said.

The four youngest entered the living room to join their older siblings.

The photographer had them lined up from oldest to youngest with the first five eldest, Henry, Stanley, Suzie, Alan, and Anne in the back row and the five youngest, Tom, Flip, Nancy, Mimi, and Scooter in the front row. With their father on their left-hand side and Chu-Chu being held by Mimi, the Chan family was perfectly positioned for their photo. "Now, smile," said the photographer, "and…say cheese!"

"Cheese!" And the family picture was taken.

"I will have this photo enlarged, framed, and sent to you within a few days, Mr. Chan," the photographer informed.

"Shall I pay you now or after you send it, sir?" asked the detective.

"No need, Mr. Chan," the photographer insisted. "After what you and your children have done, this photo is on me. Payment is not necessary."

Charlie accepted the photographer's generosity. "Thank you, kind sir. Well, children, you may…" To his surprise, the detective's ten children had already left.

Within a few seconds, music was heard. Charlie and the photographer looked into the next room and found the Chan Clan forming their band again, this time with Anne participating by playing the guitar alongside Stanley, and performing the old classic song " _We Are Family_ " by Sister Sledge with the four youngest and Chu-Chu dancing to the beat.

"You got a great family here, Mr. Chan," the photographer complimented. "You must be very proud."

"I am indeed," Charlie smiled. "I am indeed."

THE END


End file.
